Countess staff are voices of new winter care information and alerts…

Frontline staff at The Countess of Chester Hospital are the faces of a new winter care campaign to raise awareness of alternative NHS services and alert people to when the hospital is extremely busy.

Domestics, healthcare assistants, junior doctors, nurses and emergency department consultants have all stepped forward to take part in producing a series of filmed messages talking about their experiences of working in the hospital at its busiest time of the year. These are being widely shared on social media during peak times when patients are most likely to face delays in waiting to be seen or admitted.

The Countess NHS workers relay anecdotes, viewpoints and experiences:

Speaking about the winter initiative Executive Director of Nursing and Quality Alison Kelly said: “This time of year can be extremely challenging for hospital services, with seasonal pressures meaning that patients can experience delays particularly if they are waiting to be seen in our emergency department.

“Colleagues from all corners of The Countess do an incredible job and contribute to keeping our patients safe in many different ways. This is our opportunity to share frontline views on winter care at the same time as offering helpful advice to people who may need NHS support in the months ahead. We are also letting people know when we are extremely busy, as it means longer waits for some patients and their families."

Alison added: “We have almost 4,000 people that follow and communicate with the hospital through via Twitter. We will do all that we can to keep people updated when we are at our busiest – and we continue to be grateful to our patients and the public for bearing with us at peak times.”

You can keep a look out for the campaign and regular updates from The Countess twitter account by following @TheCountessNHS